Existing relational database tables store data in a structure of rows and columns. The database table is relational in that data entries within the same row (or column) are related to each other in at least one aspect, for example, associated with a given entity. Further, each row may have a key that is used for information lookup and retrieval from the database. However, these relational databases are limited in practical use by the combinatorial growth of data, complexity of determining and assessing the results of combinations of attributes of data, as well as performance demands and complexity of data processes at large scale. The technical challenges of indexing and retrieving data across sources are barriers to efficient data management operations and broader discovery of new research opportunities.
Since relational databases may store relational information on a per-entity basis, analysis of a sequence of events across one or more entities is difficult. For instance, a data user would need to construct complex queries with conditionals to retrieve information for one or more entities and combine the information for comparison. Thus, the structure of existing relational databases does not support analysis of relative time relationships between stored data entries. For example, relational databases do not support queries to lookup stored events that occurred within a given time interval relative to another event. Additionally, updating and querying relative time relationships may be combinatorially prohibitive at scale for relational databases. As a result, data users may overlook valuable information in the databases and their associated temporal patterns. It is desirable to maintain a database that continuously indexes its data entries to provide discovery of relative relationships across time or other dimensions.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.